A Sukkot Feast

Some traditional (and not so traditional) recipes, made easy for the busy cook.

It’s Sukkah season! Although for some the weather is still balmy, many of us are eating our meals in our sukkot with our gloves and coats on! We are all looking forward to the hot, delicious, steaming food being brought out to the sukkah that warms our souls and our bodies. Here are some traditional (and not so traditional) family favorites, made easier for the busy cook. Chag Sameach!!

Notes:

All of these recipes are great for the EFE (Egg Free Eater).

GFE: Indicates that the recipe is great for the GFE (Gluten Free Eater) too.

STUFFED CABBAGE (“Holishkas”) (GFE)

One of my family’s most requested dish on Sukkot is Stuffed Cabbage, or “Holishkas” as my Bubbie (z”l) used to call them. My Bubbie used to cook the cabbage, wrap it around the meat filling, secure each stuffed cabbage with a toothpick, and then cook them in a large pot of sauce. They were delicious, a lot of work, and many of them didn’t stay closed. My dear friend “Alderman Debra” gave me this incredibly helpful tip: freeze the cabbage a week before using it. After defrosting, the leaves are nice and soft, and easy to roll. By baking the cabbage in 9”x 13” pans, there are no more toothpicks or big pots of sauce – each cabbage stays secure when placed in the pan seam side down. I usually make huge batches of them and freeze several pans. This allows me to make them way in advance…they only get better with time!! Makes approximately 36 stuffed cabbages.

For the cabbage:

2 large heads cabbage, frozen at least 4 days in advance then defrosted before using

Carefully separate the cabbage leaves, rinsing each leaf after separating (reserving the broken or smaller leaves for the Hearty Cabbage Beef Soup). Set aside. In a large bowl combine the beef, onion, garlic, and white rice. Spread a large cabbage leaf on a cutting board with the thick part of the stem closer to you, and the leaf curving upwards. Place around ¼ cup of beef mixture on the bottom of the leaf. You can use more or less beef depending upon how big the leaf is. Fold the bottom of the leaf over the beef. Fold the sides in, then roll the cabbage from the base. Carefully place the completed “stuffed cabbage” in the prepared pan, seam side down. Repeat using all the remaining cabbage leaves. You should be able to fit 12 cabbages in each pan.

Place the all the sauce ingredients in a large pot. Warm over medium heat for a few minutes to heat the sauce and blend the ingredients. Remove from heat and evenly distribute over prepared cabbage. Reserve any remaining sauce for Hearty Cabbage Soup.

To make this recipe gluten-free use gluten-free duck sauce or apricot jam.

I usually use disposable aluminum pans that come with disposable aluminum lids. After sealing the pans, I then completely cover them with heavy duty aluminum foil to avoid any dripping in the oven. This also helps to seal the pans when freezing the cabbage for later use.

The Stuffed Cabbage freezes really well. Wrap thoroughly before freezing, and completely heat through before serving.

HEARTY CABBAGE BEEF SOUP (GFE)

After making the Stuffed Cabbage, I often end up with pieces of cabbage that weren’t “Stuffed Cabbage worthy”. Last year I also ended up with too much sauce for all the pans of Stuffed Cabbage I was making, and had the idea to combine the two together for an excellent, HeartyCabbage Beef Soup! By simply cutting up the cabbage remnants, adding the leftover sauce, some cubed cholent meat, vegetables, and a little water you have a rich, delicious, hot, soup that is perfect for your cold Sukkah guests! Don’t worry, if you don’t have any leftovers from making the Stuffed Cabbage…you can still make this soup from scratch!!

For the soup base:

Leftover sauce from Stuffed Cabbage

OR:

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 29 oz can tomato sauce

½ cup finely diced onion (1 small)

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup apricot preserves, or duck sauce

1 ½ cups raisins

Additional soup ingredients:

1 pound baby carrots

4 stalks celery, sliced lengthwise down the center then into 2 inch pieces

5 cups cabbage, sliced (you can use remaining cabbage from the

Stuffed Cabbage recipe)

2 pounds beef, cut into 1” cubes (you can use up to 3 pounds of beef for a “meatier” soup)

Combine the soup base ingredients with the carrots, celery, cabbage, cubed beef, and water. Cook over medium heat until soup begins to simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer for an additional 2 ½ to 3 hours. Add the egg noodles, and serve to your hungry guests!

To make this recipe gluten-free use gluten-free noodles.

COCA COLA ROAST (GFE)

This Sukkot, I’m making one of my all time favorite and interesting recipes – Coca Cola Roast. Yes, it’s really make with Coke. Truly. What’s cool about the cola is that the carbonation actually tenderizes the meat while it’s cooking, and the sugar caramelizes which is particularly excellent. The recipe is super fast to make with only a few ingredients that are easily accessible, it’s made with vegetables (healthy!), and you can have a cold drink of cola while preparing this yummy roast! It’s all good!

Preheat oven to 375° F. Spray the roasting pan with non-stick vegetable spray, then place roast in pan. Pour cola over the roast. It should reach about a third of the way up the roast. Pour orange juice over the roast. Arrange vegetables in the pan around the roast. Spread ketchup evenly over the roast and then sprinkle the onion soup mix over the roast. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes at 375° F. Then reduce the temperature of the oven to 350° F and bake for approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes longer until the internal temperature of the roast is 170° F. Remove from oven and cool for an hour. Refrigerate roast for 3 hours or more. Remove from refrigerator and slice into thin slices using a long, sharp knife. Return sliced roast back to roasting pan. Spoon pan gravy over the slices and cover tightly. Warm in oven. Serve garnished with the roasted carrots and celery. Enjoy!!

HOT FUDGE CAKE

The first time I made a version of this cake I read, re-read, and then read the recipe one more time. This rich, fudgy, gooey, fabulous cake is oozing with chocolately goodness…but the way you make it is by pouring hot water over the top of the cake before putting it in the oven!! The result is a delectable cake, filled with steamy hot fudge. This fantastically delicious, warm cake is sure to happily defrost your Sukkah guests and is a great, warm finish to your awesome Sukkot meal!!

In another medium bowl, combine ¾ cup sugar, brown sugar, and ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder. Stir to remove all lumps. Evenly sprinkle over the prepared cake batter. Carefully pour the hot water evenly over the uncooked cake. Do not stir! Bake 40 minutes or until center is nearly set.

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About the Author

Sharon Matten lives in Chicago and is a Freelance Pastry Chef, Kosher Food Writer & Blogger, Cable TV guest Chef, Wilton Cake Instructor, Cookbook Contributing Editor, Electrical Engineer, Wife & Mom (not in order of importance!). She writes the weekly www.koshereveryday.com blog about cooking kosher with a family and busy life – pictures and recipes included! To get more great recipes, and to find out more information about Sharon Matten go to www.koshereveryday.com.

Is the rice in the stuffed cabbage cooked or raw?
I've read different opinions about which way is better, but at least in terms of proportions, I need to know if you mean two cups of raw rice, which sounds like too much, or two cups of cooked rice. Thanks.

Sharon Matten,
October 16, 2011 8:04 PM

Raw

The rice is raw. You can always adjust your recipe to have more meat and less rice. Thanks for asking! Chag Sameach!

Rona,
October 24, 2011 1:17 PM

Thanks

Thanks! I almost forgot to check back here for a response.
The holiday is over, but I'm going to try this out, and hope it comes out the way I remember it from my childhood. I haven't had stuffed cabbage in years.

(7)
Jennifer,
October 11, 2011 1:20 AM

sounds great

Thanks so much Sharon, all of this sounds so good, and make ahead is the real answer!!

(6)
Reva Ambrose,
October 9, 2011 5:38 PM

GO Sharon!

Welove your recipes!
Go Sharon!

(5)
Beth,
October 9, 2011 4:31 PM

COCA COLA !!

OMG !! If the Coca Cola carbonation tenderizes the meat etc.. then what must be happening to our bodies when we drink this stuff. Thanks Sharon, you gave me something to think about.

(4)
Emily Aramstrong,
October 9, 2011 3:44 PM

soy milk

What is the purpose of the soy milk? Is it to make it Kosher? Can one use regular milk if wanted?

Sharon Matten,
October 9, 2011 7:43 PM

The soy milk is to make it pareve. You can use milk and real whipping cream if you want it for a dairy meal!

(3)
Sharon Matten,
October 9, 2011 3:15 PM

Great Questions!!

Thanks for your great questions! Although I recommend full sugar cola for the roast, I don't see why you couldn't use sugar free cola. You still have the properties of the carbonation, but you wouldn't get the caramelization - if that's ok with you then go for it and let me know what happens!!
Regarding the hot fudge cake - I would be nervous that the cakes would dry out. I would make it and then scoop it into individual cups or ramekins. If you are interested in individual desserts I would recommend molten lava cakes but those need to be made just before serving, the hot fudge cake can be made in advance and re-warmed. Good luck and please let me know how it turns out! Sharon

(2)
Anonymous,
October 9, 2011 2:25 PM

does diet coke work?

Can diet coke work with the cocal cola roast for sugar free diets?

rai,
October 9, 2011 3:51 PM

why not?

The cola is just for the flavor so why not...it should work just fine!

I'm told that it's a mitzvah to become intoxicated on Purim. This puzzles me, because to my understanding, it is not considered a good thing to become intoxicated, period.

One of the characteristics of the at-risk youth is their use of drugs, including alcohol. In my experience, getting drunk doesn't reveal secrets. It makes people act stupid and irresponsible, doing things they would never do if they were sober. Also, I know a lot about the horrible health effects of abusing alcohol, because I work at a research center that focuses on addiction and substance abuse.

Also, I am an alcoholic, which means that if I drink, very bad things happen. I have not had a drink in 22 years, and I have no intention of starting now. Surely there must be instances where a person is excused from the obligation to drink. I don't see how Judaism could ever promote the idea of getting drunk. It just doesn't seem right.

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Putting aside for a moment all the spiritual and philosophical reasons for getting drunk on Purim, this remains an issue of common sense. Of course, teenagers should be warned of the dangers of acute alcohol ingestion. Of course, nobody should drink and drive. Of course, nobody should become so drunk to the point of negligence in performing mitzvot. And of course, a recovering alcoholic should not partake of alcohol on Purim.

Indeed, the Code of Jewish Law explicitly says that if one suspects the drinking may affect him negatively, then he should NOT drink.

Getting drunk on Purim is actually one of the most difficult mitzvot to do correctly. A person should only drink if it will lead to positive spiritual results - e.g. under the loosening affect of the alcohol, greater awareness will surface of the love for God and Torah found deep in the heart. (Perhaps if we were on a higher spiritual level, we wouldn't need to get drunk!)

Yet the Talmud still speaks of an obligation on Purim of "not knowing the difference between Blessed is Mordechai and Cursed is Haman." How then should a person who doesn't drink get the point of “not knowing”? Simple - just go to sleep! (Rama - OC 695:2)

All this applies to individuals. But the question remains - does drinking on Purim adversely affect the collective social health of the Jewish community?

The aversion to alcoholism is engrained into Jewish consciousness from a number of Biblical and Talmudic sources. There are the rebuking words of prophets - Isaiah 28:1, Hosea 3:1 with Rashi, and Amos 6:6, and the Zohar says that "The wicked stray after wine" (Midrash Ne'alam Parshat Vayera).

It is well known that the rate of alcoholism among Jews has historically been very low. Numerous medical, psychological and sociological studies have confirmed this. The connection between Judaism and sobriety is so evident, that the following conversation is reported by Lawrence Kelemen in "Permission to Receive":

When Dr. Mark Keller, editor of the Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol, commented that "practically all Jews do drink, and yet all the world knows that Jews hardly ever become alcoholics," his colleague, Dr. Howard Haggard, director of Yale's Laboratory of Applied Physiology, jokingly proposed converting alcoholics to the Jewish religion in order to immerse them in a culture with healthy attitudes toward drinking!

Perhaps we could suggest that it is precisely because of the use of alcohol in traditional ceremonies (Kiddush, Bris, Purim, etc.), that Jews experience such low rates of alcoholism. This ceremonial usage may actually act like an inoculation - i.e. injecting a safe amount that keeps the disease away.

Of course, as we said earlier, all this needs to be monitored with good common sense. Yet in my personal experience - having been in the company of Torah scholars who were totally drunk on Purim - they acted with extreme gentleness and joy. Amid the Jewish songs and beautiful words of Torah, every year the event is, for me, very special.

Adar 12 marks the dedication of Herod's renovations on the second Holy Temple in Jerusalem in 11 BCE. Herod was king of Judea in the first century BCE who constructed grand projects like the fortresses at Masada and Herodium, the city of Caesarea, and fortifications around the old city of Jerusalem. The most ambitious of Herod's projects was the re-building of the Temple, which was in disrepair after standing over 300 years. Herod's renovations included a huge man-made platform that remains today the largest man-made platform in the world. It took 10,000 men 10 years just to build the retaining walls around the Temple Mount; the Western Wall that we know today is part of that retaining wall. The Temple itself was a phenomenal site, covered in gold and marble. As the Talmud says, "He who has not seen Herod's building, has never in his life seen a truly grand building."

Some people gauge the value of themselves by what they own. But in reality, the entire concept of ownership of possessions is based on an illusion. When you obtain a material object, it does not become part of you. Ownership is merely your right to use specific objects whenever you wish.

How unfortunate is the person who has an ambition to cleave to something impossible to cleave to! Such a person will not obtain what he desires and will experience suffering.

Fortunate is the person whose ambition it is to acquire personal growth that is independent of external factors. Such a person will lead a happy and rewarding life.

With exercising patience you could have saved yourself 400 zuzim (Berachos 20a).

This Talmudic proverb arose from a case where someone was fined 400 zuzim because he acted in undue haste and insulted some one.

I was once pulling into a parking lot. Since I was a bit late for an important appointment, I was terribly annoyed that the lead car in the procession was creeping at a snail's pace. The driver immediately in front of me was showing his impatience by sounding his horn. In my aggravation, I wanted to join him, but I saw no real purpose in adding to the cacophony.

When the lead driver finally pulled into a parking space, I saw a wheelchair symbol on his rear license plate. He was handicapped and was obviously in need of the nearest parking space. I felt bad that I had harbored such hostile feelings about him, but was gratified that I had not sounded my horn, because then I would really have felt guilty for my lack of consideration.

This incident has helped me to delay my reactions to other frustrating situations until I have more time to evaluate all the circumstances. My motives do not stem from lofty principles, but from my desire to avoid having to feel guilt and remorse for having been foolish or inconsiderate.

Today I shall...

try to withhold impulsive reaction, bearing in mind that a hasty act performed without full knowledge of all the circumstances may cause me much distress.

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